Fairness Isn't Sameness

It is an open practice in too many large school districts for new teachers to hire on at one of the district’s at-risk schools, spend one year there and then get cherry picked off the transfer list to join one of the district’s affluent schools.

What this does is ensure that the most at-risk students in the district have the least experienced teachers and the least at-risk students have the most experienced teachers.  When Central Office is pressed on this (politely) by the principals of the at-risk schools, they are told that if the district doesn’t allow the transfers then the DISTRICT will lose good teachers to other districts.  This is of absolutely no consolation to the principal that is losing 20% of her staff ever year to her own district.

Since I’m throwing the stone, I’m obligated to provide a solution. Here it is, District...

1. Identify your at-risk schools.  For example, the schools that your teachers transfer from, not to.

2. Make the starting teacher salary at those campuses $2,000.00 higher than the starting salary at your non at-risk schools.

3. Every year that the teacher remains at the at-risk school, along with the district's standard raise, add another $500.00 to the original $2,000.00 add-on.

4. If the teacher transfers to a non at-risk school, she forfeits the extra pay.

Now, many will say that is not fair.  But it is. Any teacher at a non at-risk school who transfers to an at-risk school gets the initial increase and every year she remains she too gets the $500.00 add-on.

And let’s be honest, the current system already in unfair.  Because if it was, teachers wouldn’t be abandoning at-risk schools the first chance they get.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

• Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction.” Individual copies available on Amazon.com!  http://tinyurl.com/Fundamental5 
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Timer (Fundamental 5 Delivery Tool); PowerWalks CLC (Networked Formative Observation Tool) 
• Upcoming Presentations: Illinois ASCD Fall Conference (Multiple Presentations), Texas Elementary Principals and Supervisors Association Fall AP Conference, The Fundamental 5 National Summit (Multiple Presentations) 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

A Superintendent Continues... Red Shirt Your Freshmen - Part 2

In response to the 5/11/12 post, “Red Shirt Your Freshmen – Part 1” the LYS Superintendent continues:

SC,

... Granted. But for some districts (like the one I just joined) this is a high stakes chess game.  When you are one of the districts at the bottom of performance rankings, saving the King is all that matters.  The King in this case is the district itself.  Which of course means getting the needed scores. 

The district I was considering in the previous post failed its fiscal ratings multiple times. Last year it finally got that fixed.  But then academic performance dropped, making it Improvement Required.  With the multiple years of failure (even though they were unrelated) the district is now on the shutdown list. 

Obviously, neither of us would advocate putting children at risk...

But we didn't invent this ridiculous accountability game, the state did.  We just have to recognize that some districts are playing the game with the state’s loaded pistol pointed at their head.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

• Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction.” Individual copies available on Amazon.com!  http://tinyurl.com/Fundamental5 
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Timer (Fundamental 5 Delivery Tool); PowerWalks CLC (Networked Formative Observation Tool) 
• Upcoming Presentations: Texas Association of Secondary School Principals Conference (Multiple Presentations); Texas Elementary Principals and Supervisors Association Conference (Multiple Presentations); LYS / TASSP Advanced Leadership Academy (Keynote) 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

A Superintendent Writes... Red Shirt Your Freshmen - Part 1

In response to the 4/29/16 post, “HS Accountability - Red Shirt Your Freshmen” a LYS Superintendent writes:

SC,

Something to consider and a possible warning. When restructuring the order of high school tested subjects, you must keep in mind that rearrangement will mean some tests will not be given for a year or two. 

That's fine, but you also have to keep in mind that district wide the hardest tests are in Grades 3, 4, 6, and 7.  STAAR is a reversal from the days of TAAS and TAKS where the hardest tests were at the high school level. 

The point is, your Grade 3-8 scores have to be strong enough to carry the district.  If you have weak Grade 3-8 performance you may need the relatively easy to pass high school tests to bring up your district average so the district meets state standards. 

I am not being theoretical.  I know of a district that did the high school rearrangement and the district went Improvement Required that year simply because Grade 3-8 scores were too weak to carry the district.  

SC Response

I don’t disagree with you. This can be an issue, but you are describing system failure(s). The question that you have to ask is, “Do you knowingly place High School students at greater risk to potentially protect adults and mask system failures?”

You know that I have and will do what is best for my students and deal with the adult repercussions.  As I have also seen you do, over and over again.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

• Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction.” Individual copies available on Amazon.com!  http://tinyurl.com/Fundamental5 
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Timer (Fundamental 5 Delivery Tool); PowerWalks CLC (Networked Formative Observation Tool) 
• Upcoming Presentations: Texas Association of Secondary School Principals Conference (Multiple Presentations); Texas Elementary Principals and Supervisors Association Conference (Multiple Presentations); LYS / TASSP Advanced Leadership Academy (Keynote) 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

The Final Results Are In

This Spring, LYS announced two Cancer Fightin' Challenges.  The first, in March, was the "March For A Cure PowerWalks Challenge."  For this challenge for every PowerWalks classroom observation that was conducted, LYS pledged to donate a nickel towards cancer research.

The second, in April, was the "Buy A Book - Beat Cancer Challenge."  For this challenge for every copy of The Fundamental 5 that was sold, one dollar was pledged towards cancer research.

I am proud to announce that last week, due to the participation of you and the rest of the LYS Nation, we donated a total of $2,210.25 to The American Cancer Society.

That is now our baseline.  Next year when we do this again we now have a target to exceed.

On behalf of LYS and those who will benefit from this donation, THANK YOU!

Top LYS Posts From the Week of May 1, 2016

If you are not following @LYSNation on Twitter, then you missed the Top 10 LYS Tweets from the week of May 1, 2016 when they were first posted.  And if you are on Twitter, you might want to check out the Tweeters who made this week’s list.

1. If you are the smartest person in the room, look for a new room. (By @TinneyTroy)

2. The only true purpose of power is to serve others. - President George H.W. Bush (By @LeadershipCures)

3. Think of accountability as the 'dependent variable' not the 'independent' one. Focused collaboration causes accountability, not vice-versa. (By @MichaelFullan1)

4. Word searches and crosswords are not STAAR review. They are a waste of instructional time and student effort. (By @LYSNation)

5. The nation will find it very hard to look up to the leaders who are keeping their ears to the ground. - Sir Winston Churchill (By @LeadershipCures)

6. In Texas, the average school district spends $8,075 per student, which is less than the nationwide average. (By @RYHTexas)

7. Amazing what an encouraging word will spark in someone. (By @5to1_Leadership)

8. If I had to give you one piece of advice it would be this: Don’t be intimidated by opinions. (By @paulocoelho)

9. "Color neatly, this is for a test grade" is not a rigorous assessment item and I must've missed the coloring standard in the secondary social studies TEKS. (By @LYSNation)

10. 15-year-old John Lennon's report card said, “Too many wrong ambitions & his energy is too often misplaced." (By @BeschlossDC)

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

• Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction.” Individual copies available on Amazon.com!  http://tinyurl.com/Fundamental5
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Timer (Fundamental 5 Delivery Tool); PowerWalks CLC (Networked Formative Observation Tool) 
• Upcoming Presentations: Texas Association of Secondary School Principals Conference (Multiple Presentations); Texas Elementary Principals and Supervisors Association Conference (Multiple Presentations); LYS / TASSP Advanced Leadership Academy (Keynote) 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook